Jakarta – The continued flow of hot mud from a gas drilling well, which has spread over more than 127 hectares of land in Sidoarjo, East Java, could pose a severe threat to human health and create an ecological disaster, activists and experts have warned.
"The hot mud has damaged human health and the ecological function of the affected area. It will take a long time for a recovery," said Chalid Muhammad, director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).
He said the mudflow, which began three weeks ago, could be categorized as dangerous and toxic due to the massive volume, around 25,000 to 50,000 cubic meters, of mud coming out of the ground each day.
"The mud contains a chemical called phenol, which is dangerous to human health due to its ability to damage the human nervous system and ruin other physical functions of the body," he said.
Chalid said about 580 people had been treated at hospital, with most complaining of shortness of breath and dizziness after their upper respiratory systems had been affected by the gas.
Farmland would take several months to a year to return to its original condition, he said.
The water and sanitary conditions of the affected area have also worsened. "It has become smelly, does not taste good and their are layers of crusted oil," said Chalid of the water, adding that much of it had been contaminated by a large amount of salt, swept out of salt pans in the area by the mud flow.
"The restoration and detoxification of the land is possible if there is good data on the chemical content, such as metals, which we are lacking at the moment," he said.
Lily Pudjiastuti, an environmentalist from the Sepuluh November Institute of Technology in Surabaya, said the phenol found in the affected area could not be categorized as waste.
"We are studying this odorless phenol, which is found in a compound within the mud, to discover what degree of damage it can do to human health and the affected land," she said.
She said it would take a long time to analyze and reach a conclusion due to the changing nature of the field.
Meanwhile, the management head of disaster mitigation at the Health Ministry, Rustam S. Pakaya, said the health problem would only get worse if the hot mud flow did not stop soon.
"People are seeking treatment or staying in hospital because they are under heavy stress. This is not caused by the exposure to chemicals in the mud or gas as we haven't found any compound with harmful potential," he said.
"Most of them are back to normal after five days of good treatment and counseling," Rustam said.
He denied the presence of phenol in the mud, saying it was only alcohol. "The best thing for us to avoid is the transfer of diseases among the some 3,000 victims in the shelters," he said, adding sanitation condition in the area could return to normal.
"The mitigation team hasn't detected any long-term health effects of the disaster," Rustam said.
Chalid said international aid standards had not been met by PT Lapindo Brantas Inc., the company responsible for the gas-drilling well in Sidoarjo.
"Lapindo has not provided enough aid for the victims. Each of them needs a minimum of 20 liters of water per day, a quarter kilogram of rice per day and a space of two by two square meters," he said.
He said Walhi, along with some of the victims, would soon file a class action suit against Lapindo, which is owned by the family of Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, to account for the damages.